Video: SlingPlayer Mobile for iPad Gets Teased

It’s hard not to love Slingbox, the home theatre hardware capable of throwing any video plugged into it to whatever compatible device you might have. The iPhone has had SlingPlayer Mobile for some time now, but what’s been missing has been a version optimized for the iPad -- which is finally coming soon.

Engadget is reporting that an iPad version of SlingPlayer Mobile is on the way, and you can get a preview look at how it works with the embedded video below. Sling is on a roll lately, having just launched on the new Windows Phone 7 platform, and promises the iPad version will be “better than any mobile app we’ve ever done.”

In particular, the video streaming quality gets a boost on the iPad thanks to Apple’s own H.264 Live Streaming. “The UI looks nicely responsive and unobtrusive, and the video does indeed look pretty great in the middle of a 360p YouTube video,” according to Engadget.

Apparently, SlingPlayer Mobile for iPad is done and ready to go, but the company is waiting for Apple to release iOS 4.2 before they make it available to all. (Speaking of which, where is that iOS 4.2…?)

Given that the iPad already has Netflix, Hulu Plus, ABC and any number of other ways to consume content, it will be interesting to see how SlingPlayer Mobile stacks up against the onslaught of competition -- particularly with so many people cutting the cords on their cable and satellite television these days.